3.The French are Prone to Collapse in a Wave of Surrender
3.法国人容易投降
Shortly after the events following 9/11 that changed the United States in many ways, we were finding ourselves going to war in the Middle East.
9/11事件对美国各方面都产生了重大影响，而之后不久，美国士兵便投身中东战场。
When France made the difficult choice not to help us – their ally – on this particular occasion, many people starting leveling very pointedly accusing fingers at them.
这种情形下，作为盟友，法国左思右想后还是决定不帮助我们。因此，很多人强烈指责他们。
They were insulted by many publications and political figures in the United States, who essentially referred to the French people as cowards.
一些出版物和美国的政治人物辱骂他们，将法国人称为懦夫。
Some went so far as to quote a joking The Simpsons episode, and quite seriously call them "cheese eating surrender monkeys".
一些甚至引用《辛普森一家》中的一个情景，很严肃地称他们为"只会吃奶酪的投降猴子"。
People claimed that they surrendered easily in World War II, and that in general they are cowards who don't want to fight.
人们声称法国人在二战中轻易投降，法国人是懦夫，不想战斗。

However, the truth is that the French are one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and always have been.
然而，事实是，法国是世界上最危险的国家之一，这一点从未改变。
Many people don't realize that the defeat in World War II may have been a defeat for France's leadership and infrastructure, but that the French warriors never once stopped fighting.
许多人没有意识到，第二次世界大战对法国的领导和基础设施来说是一场失败，但法国的战士从未停止战斗。
France also has a long history of war, and currently wields the third largest nuclear stockpile in the entire world.
法国有着悠久的战争历史，目前拥有整个世界第三大的核储备。
The big two, the United States and Russia, are the only countries that can boast a significantly bigger nuclear stockpile than the French, and France still maintains one of the strongest and biggest standing armies in the world.
美国和俄罗斯这两个大国，是世界上仅有的能够拥有比法国更大核储备两个国家，而且法国军队仍然是世界上最强大的军队之一。
While France has been choosing to pick their battles more carefully in recent years, their reputation shows they are far from cowards, and more than prepared for serious engagements.
近年来，法国对于选择需要参与的战斗愈加谨慎，种种事实显示出他们不是懦夫，且随时准备迎接严峻挑战。。

2.The Island of Jamaica is a 24/7 Weed Lover's Paradise
2.牙买加岛是大麻爱好者的天堂
When most people think of a place where weed is considered as normal as eating, they think of the island of Jamaica.
若说有什么地方吸大麻和吃饭一样正常，很多人会想到牙买加岛。
After all, it is the place where you are likely to find one of the highest concentrations of Rastafarians in the entire world, and as we all know, those who follow Rasta believe in smoking weed as part of a religious tradition.
该岛上的拉斯特法里教徒应该是世界上最多的，众所周知，吸食大麻是拉斯特法里教的一个宗教传统。
However, religions are not always accepted fully by the law, even in countries where they are most popular. Despite what some may think, for the longest time weed has been severely illegal in Jamaica.
但是，即使在最推崇拉斯特法里教的国家，吸食大麻也并没有完全得到法律的许可。甚至有些人认为，在牙买加岛，长时间吸食大麻严重违反了法律。
Lots of weed is grown on the island but the government has done their best to crack down hard on illegal growing, smuggling, and even individual use.
虽然岛上种植着很多大麻，但政府一直尽力镇压非法种植、走私及吸食大麻的行为。

Just this year they relaxed some of the laws regarding use for personal or religious reasons. They have also relaxed some of the laws in an effort to gain more money from foreign tourism – especially with some US states now allowing medical marijuana to some degree.
今年，政府放松了对个人或宗教吸食大麻的法律要求。也放松了那些从外国游客身上获利的法律（尤其是来自美国部分州的游客，这些地方已经允许把大麻作为药物使用），
However, this is only a small relaxation of the laws for individuals, and the country is still doing its best to prevent large scale growing or trafficking within the confines of the island.
但只是略微放松了对个人吸食大麻的限制，整个国家仍然在尽力阻止大麻的大规模种植和岛内的非法交易。
The idea behind the new law is to allow for personal use, in order to accommodate the island's large Rasta population, but still fight the rise of large grow operations on the island.
允许个人吸食大麻只是为岛内的拉斯特法里教徒考虑，大规模种植大麻仍然遭到反对。

1.The German People are Mostly Humorless
1.大部分德国人都缺乏幽默感
The German people get called a lot of complimentary things.
德国人有许多值得称赞的优点。
They are hardworking people, who tend to be rational, industrious, and with the large influx of refugees they take in every year, they have certainly proven themselves to be a caring people.
他们努力工作，理性，勤劳，每年接纳大量难民，努力让自己成为一个善解人意的人。
However, most of Europe and the rest of the world considers Germany to be a little amusing for the fact that, as far as much of the world is concerned, Germany doesn't know how to be funny.
然而，大部分欧洲及其他地区的人都觉得德国人过于严肃，他们似乎不知道如何成为一个有趣的人。
Surveys have even found that among much of the world, Germany is sometimes seen as literally the least funny country of all.
调查发现，德国被公认为世界上最无趣的国家。

Now, while many of us may think this about Germans, in truth it can't really make that much sense. Humor is something universal to all people; it's just likely Germans see it differently.
现在很多人都持有这种看法，但事实上，幽默感是所有人共有的东西，德国人只是以不同的眼光看待它罢了。
The truth is that Germany has a rich history of comedy, but that the style is so far removed from the traditional British and even American comedy, that it's hard to translate the style at all.
事实上，德国的喜剧历史悠久，但其风格与传统英国和美国喜剧大相径庭，所以我们很难完全理解。
The style of standup comedy we are used to was pretty much a foreign concept when first introduced in Germany – the Germans had complicated theater style shows in order to impart comedy that would be hard for other cultures to understand.
我们熟悉的单口喜剧首次引入德国时，它还是一个非常陌生的概念——德国人的剧院式表演十分复杂，创造出一些其他文化难以理解的喜剧。
The other issue is that many of the countries considered most known for their humor tend to use a lot of wordplay that a German audience would struggle with, and the complicated form of German humor also would not translate well for audiences from other countries.
另一个问题就是，许多幽默感爆棚的国家常使用德国观众理解不了的双关语，而其他国家的观众也不能把握好德国幽默的复杂形式。
Comedy unfortunately is one of those things that easily becomes lost in translation.
因此，喜剧不幸成为在翻译中最容易失去韵味的东西之一。